A vehicle's fuel economy is the result of its total resistance to movement. This includes overcoming inertia, driveline friction, road grades, air drag, and tire rolling resistance. The relative percent of influence that these factors represent during stop-and-go city driving are very different from steady, state highway driving.
Over road vehicles, such a trucks and cars, typically use pneumatic tires to decrease weight and improve the vehicle ride. Pneumatic tires of this type include a reinforced polymer tire filled with compressed gas. The reinforced polymer and the compressed gas allow the tire to flex, i.e., deform, in order to absorb vibrations; however, the deformation of the tires contributes to tire rolling resistance. Specifically, a given portion of a pneumatic tire will repeatedly deform and recover as the tire rotates under the weight of the vehicle. This repeated deformation and recovery is not perfectly elastic and results in a loss of energy that contributes to rolling resistance.
To improve the fuel efficiency in the transportation industry, various approaches have been employed in order to reduce the rolling resistance of a vehicle tire. Generally described, some of these methods include the utilization of harder material or employment of greater inflation pressures in order to achieve lower rolling resistance. While these approaches reduce rolling resistance, they are not without drawbacks. Specifically, increasing the hardness or inflation pressure of known tires increases vehicle vibration and reduces ride quality.
The transportation industry is continuously looking for ways to improve fuel efficiency of a vehicle by reducing rolling resistance without compromising ride quality. The disclosed subject matter aims to provide such a system.